Northwood Golf Club
It all begins with an idea.
This golf course lives in Northwood, California. It’s made internet famous by a few videos such as the one we saw by Skratch with Erik Anders Lang from Random Golf Club.
It started as a spontaneous idea midweek. One of us throws out a suggestion - maybe we should go play this course this weekend. The group chat idea graduates into a car rental and hotel reservations. We find ourselves meeting in West Los Angeles at 5:00AM loading up the trunk of our car rental with our golf clubs. ETA - 1:15PM. It’ll take us about 8.5 hours to drive up north, beyond the farms of central California, past the busy streets of San Francisco and the Bay, through the vineyards of Sonoma County, until we find our place amongst the giant redwoods of Northern California at Northwood Golf Club.
Our group is made up of three carry bag walkers - we are a subset of a larger group of friends - golfers based in Los Angeles but what makes us unique is that all three of us own carry bags and we love to walk the courses we play.
What began with the appreciation for the walk resulted in ownership of carry bags. They’re lightweight, look great, and we can throw em on the ground as we initiate our pre-shot routine on the tee box, fairway, rough (not ideal), and putting green.
We arrive at about 1:15PM, just as the ETA predicted, and we get out to stretch. The sun is gently beaming through the giant redwood trees and the birds are chirping. The visuals and sounds amplify the intimate proximity to nature. 15 minutes later, after perusing the pro shop for souvenirs, we’re teeing off. The redwoods are surreal and the vibe is addicting. The small town energy instantly makes you feel at home, as if you’ve been here before.
We learned that these redwood trees are a species that is specific to the Northern California/Southern Oregon area. Sequoia sempervirens, the coastal redwood. The golf course is designed by none other than Dr. Alister Mackenzie. The course is surrounded by the Russian River, and you can hear the water rushing as you meander near the boundaries of the course.
We stay the night at the hotel adjacent to the golf course, they actually share a parking lot. We wake up at dawn to find the fog has rolled in and the visuals are completely different from the afternoon before. And just like that, we’re teeing off again in another magical setting - surrounded by redwoods towering above us, disappearing into the fog.
In the wake of our trip, which started as a spontaneous group chat proposal midweek, an idea came to us with inspiration from the redwood forest. This is how the idea of the Park Golf Stand was born. The walk through a redwood forest reminded us of a walk through a park. We hope this stand brings a bit of nature into your home, and gives your carry bag a place to call home, a place you can Park your bag. (heh)
These photos were taken by the co-founders of Park Golf Goods and we hope you enjoy them as much as we do. Who knows, maybe you’ll be inspired to take a trip to Northwood Golf club yourself, with a group of friends, or with family. As you’ve just read, it all begins with an idea.
